“Why?”
He sounded curious, which probably wasn’t so odd since most women in the 18thcentury didn’t go looking for work if they didn’t have to. But that was her point. Earlier this afternoon, his father had found her with Greer in the solar and said it was good for his daughter to have female company and that he’d like to extend the invitation to Charlotte to stay for as long as she needed to. The invitation was a relief and also coincided with her plans to try to divert—somehow—the battle at Culloden. She did not intend to be a freeloader though.
“Since your father offered me lodgings, I want to earn my keep.”
“Ye are a guest.”
“I don’t want to take advantage of that. You know the old adage about a three-day limit on fish and guests.”
‘What?”
This time he looked completely bewildered and she realized that old adage probably wasn’tthatold. “Never mind. I just meant that guests can become burdens if they aren’t pulling their own weight.”
He widened his eyes. “Ye want to drag something around that weighs what ye do? ’Tis a strange request.”
“No.” She really needed to stop with the idioms. “I meant, I want to contribute something. To be of some use.”
“Ye can accompany Greer with her charity work, then.”
“I can. I will. But I also need to earn some coin. I never did find my purse, and I can’t stay here forever.”
“Where would ye want to go?”
She hadn’t given it much thought since she was still trying to figure out how she’d arrived here in the first place, but Niall was waiting for an answer.
“I’m not sure. Maybe the Colonies?” She’d come from the States, after all.
Several expressions crossed his face at once, each too fleeting for her to grasp. Was he realizing the practicality of what she was asking? Or was he reacting to her statement about not staying forever? Was he hoping she would? She almost laughed again. That was her romance writer self wishfully hoping. Niall had been nothing but kind and a perfect gentleman. Drat it. If she wanted proof of that, she only needed to remind herself that he didn’t evenrememberthe kiss on Hogmanay, although she could recall it in stark detail. She shook her head to clear it.
“’Tis a long way. Ye’d need much coin.”
His tone was neutral and his expression passive. She couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. Better not to pursue it, since she really didn’t want to end up in colonial America.
“I was hoping I could perhaps work in a shop in Inverness.”
His expression changed again, but this time he looked…suspicious? “In Inverness?”
“Well…yes. I doubt there is much opportunity for a woman to get a job in Beauly, since it’s so small.”
“Hmmm.” He leaned back in his chair. “And how do ye plan to get there?”
“I can ride.” Remembering what century she was in, she quickly added, “Sidesaddle, of course.” She’d never ridden sidesaddle, but it couldn’t betoohard.
One brow lifted. “We’ve a war going on. The roads are nae safe for a single lass.”
“I could wrap one of your great plaids around me and put my hair up under a cap. No one would recognize I was a woman.”
Both brows lifted at that and a corner of his mouth quirked up. “I doona think ’tis enough wool in Scotland to hide that fact.”
She blinked. Was Niall flirting? Before she could think of a witty—maybe flirty—comeback, he added, “Besides, ye’d be riding sidesaddle.”
So much for flirting, then. “I could ride astride if I had enough material covering me. No one would see my skirts.”
His lips quivered as though he were trying hard not to laugh, and an assortment of changes crossed his face. For a brief moment, she wondered if she’d saidliftmy skirts rather thanseemy skirts. No.No, she hadn’t.
“Do ye ken what ye’d look like? Some enterprising soul might think a wool merchant’s horse wandered away and he’d take advantage of that, only to find ye in the midst of the load.”
So he’d been trying not to laugh, picturing her as big bag of wool wandering down the road. Skirt-lifting hadn’t even been on his mind. She sighed and rose from her seat. The conversation was not going in the right direction.Eitherdirection—she wasn’t winning her case about getting a job and she certainly wasn’t making any headway in the flirtation department.
